VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Canada News Group News Commentary - The global gold market was valued at US$291.68 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach US$400 billion by the end of 2030, a compound annual growth rate of 6.51% over 2025 to 2030, according to Virtue Market Research. How that growth gets financed is shifting, as producers and developers lean on streams, royalties, convertible bonds and gold-denominated loans alongside conventional equity and bank debt. Active Companies from around the markets with current developments this week include: Lake Victoria Gold Ltd. (TSXV: LVG) (OTCQB: LVGLF) (FSE: E1K), Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE: WPM), OR Royalties Inc. (NYSE: OR), Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (NYSE: HMY), and Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc (NYSE American: CMCL).

The supply side helps explain why capital keeps chasing new ounces. GlobalData forecasts global gold production growing at a compound annual rate of just 0.9% to reach 141.6 million ounces by 2030, a slow build against demand that continues to be led by the official sector. Central banks bought a net 288.9 tonnes in the second quarter of 2026, a 62% year-over-year increase and the strongest second quarter on record, and gold-backed ETFs took in $18 billion in August, the second-largest monthly inflow on record, according to the World Gold Council.

Prices have been less cooperative in the short run. Benchmark gold slipped about 3% to roughly US$4,149 an ounce on Monday and is down about 6.6% over the past month as Treasury yields rose and rate-hike expectations built, though it remains around 8% higher year over year, according to Trading Economics. For developers, that kind of volatility tends to show up in financing terms before it shows up in cash flow, which is one reason structures that share metal-price exposure with the capital provider have gained ground.

Tanzania offers a live example of a gold economy scaling quickly. Gold exports rose 37.4% to US$5.67 billion in the year to July 2026, making up 47.4% of goods export earnings, according to the Bank of Tanzania, and newer projects in the Lake Victoria Goldfield sit alongside established operations such as Barrick's Bulyanhulu Mine and AngloGold Ashanti's Geita Gold Mine.

Lake Victoria Gold Initiates First Land Compensation Programme at Tembo Over the Ngula 1 Deposit, Following a Maiden NI 43-101 Resource Next to Bulyanhulu

- Maiden NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate at Tembo: Inferred 13.33 Mt at 1.12 g/t Au for 480,100 ounces and Indicated 2.69 Mt at 1.16 g/t Au for 99,700 ounces.

- Higher-grade component at a 1.00 g/t cut-off of 331,700 Inferred ounces at 2.15 g/t and 68,600 Indicated ounces at 2.00 g/t.

- First land access programme at Tembo covers 111.32 acres directly over the Ngula 1 deposit, with completion targeted for early October 2026.

- Proposed toll-milling arrangement with Nyati Resources' 500-tonne-per-day plant advancing as a potential capital-efficient route to near-term production.

- At the separate Imwelo Gold Project, a gold loan facility of up to 6,000 ounces of gold, approximately US$25 million, is structured to be repaid in gold.

Lake Victoria Gold Ltd. (TSXV: LVG) (OTCQB: LVGLF) (FSE: E1K) is a Vancouver-based gold exploration and development company focused on Tanzania's Lake Victoria Goldfield. It holds a 100% interest in the Tembo Project, adjacent to Barrick's Bulyanhulu Mine, and a 100% interest in the fully permitted Imwelo Gold Project, west of AngloGold Ashanti's Geita Gold Mine.

On August 11, the Company announced the maiden NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate for Tembo, with an effective date of May 29, 2026. The estimate covers three near-surface deposits, Ngula 1, Nyakagwe Village and Nyakagwe East, reported within conceptual open-pit shells at a 0.25 g/t cut-off using a gold price of US$2,400/oz. It was prepared by independent Qualified Persons Noleen D. Pauls and Dean Richards of Obsidian Consulting Services.

Grade strengthens materially as the reporting cut-off rises. At 1.00 g/t, the estimate retains 4.79 Mt at 2.15 g/t for 331,700 Inferred ounces and 1.07 Mt at 2.00 g/t for 68,600 Indicated ounces, and at 1.50 g/t it holds 2.27 Mt at 3.18 g/t for 232,100 Inferred ounces. These sensitivity figures are subsets of the stated resource, not separate estimates. Ngula 1 hosts approximately 56% of the Inferred ounces and 63% of the Indicated ounces and is the focus of a planned close-spaced drilling program of approximately 4,000 to 5,000 metres on a 20 m by 20 m pattern.

The resource covers only three target areas on a 34 km² property where a 2020 integrated study by GoldSpot Discoveries Corp. identified and ranked 39 exploration targets, across four granted mining licences. Barrick's December 2021 acquisition of six of the Company's non-core licences, for US$6 million in cash plus up to US$45 million in ounce-based contingent payments, leaves LVG with continued exposure to that ground, although those payments depend on exploration and development success by Bulyanhulu Gold Mine Limited, which is outside the Company's control.

On September 16, the Company initiated the Phase 1 land valuation and compensation programme at Ngula Village, the first land access programme undertaken at Tembo. The programme covers 111.32 acres, 88.51 acres within the mining licence area of LVG's wholly owned Tanzanian subsidiary and 22.81 acres associated with primary mining licences held by Nyati Resources, and completion is targeted for early October 2026. The programme also supports the proposed toll-milling arrangement under which Nyati's 500-tonne-per-day processing plant would process material from Tembo, including Ngula 1, subject to confirmatory drilling, permitting, financing and the execution of a definitive agreement.

Marc Cernovitch, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lake Victoria Gold, commented: "We are taking the playbook that has worked at Imwelo and applying it at Tembo, starting at Ngula 1 because that is where our resource is concentrated and where our next phase of work is directed."

"There is no urgency forcing this. That is exactly the point. Doing land access properly, through the district authorities and the statutory valuation process, takes as long as it takes, and the way you avoid that becoming a problem is to start it early and run it transparently. We have the community and the district engaged from day one, and we intend to keep it that way."

Tembo runs as a second track alongside Imwelo, the Company's fully permitted near-term development priority, and the financing behind Imwelo reflects the broader shift in how developers are raising capital. LVG has announced a gold loan facility with Monetary Metals & Co. of up to 6,000 ounces of gold, approximately US$25 million, structured to be repaid in gold rather than cash, together with a convertible debenture financing that was later upsized to $5 million. On September 24, the Company also identified a preferred processing route for Imwelo's near-surface weathered material, with attrition scrubbing and desliming lifting 24-hour gold extraction on the pretreated fraction from 49.99% to 84.54% in agitated-leach testing.

There are several risks associated with the Company's plans. The Company has not completed a preliminary economic assessment, pre-feasibility study or feasibility study for Tembo, no Mineral Reserves have been estimated, and Mineral Resources do not have demonstrated economic viability. Inferred Mineral Resources carry a lower level of confidence, and it cannot be assumed that any part will be upgraded. The Nyati toll-milling arrangement is not yet a definitive agreement, land compensation timing depends on district authorities, and mineralization at Bulyanhulu is not necessarily indicative of mineralization at Tembo. At Imwelo, JORC-compliant studies are not current under NI 43-101 and any production decision would not be based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves. Financing remains subject to its terms and conditions. Readers should review the Company's filings under its profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

Read this and more news from this sector at: https://canadanewsgroup.com

In other industry developments and happenings in the market this week include:

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE: WPM) reported in its second quarter 2026 MD&A that, effective April 1, 2026, it receives a combined 67.5% of all silver produced from Antamina, up from the 33.75% delivered under the pre-existing Glencore silver stream, with the transaction funded in part through a new $1.5 billion two-year term loan. Net debt stood at $1.9 billion at June 30, and 2026 attributable production guidance remains 860,000 to 940,000 gold equivalent ounces.

Streams are also showing up on new African builds. Wheaton's first quarter report noted that Montage Gold anticipates first gold pour through the oxide circuit at its Koné project in late Q4 2026, with the hard-rock comminution circuit on track for Q2 2027. Subsequent to the second quarter, Wheaton made an additional $44 million upfront payment related to its El Domo stream, and the company hosted an Investor Day webcast on September 16 led by President and CEO Haytham Hodaly.

OR Royalties Inc. (NYSE: OR) reported a 62% year-over-year increase in second quarter 2026 revenues and cash flows from operations, with 96.8% of revenues converting to cash margin, and said its royalty, stream and other interests grew to $1.48 billion at June 30 from $1.14 billion at year-end 2025. The company has continued share repurchases under its normal course issuer bid and raised its quarterly dividend by 18% in May to US$0.065 per share.

On September 23, OR Royalties provided an asset portfolio briefing highlighting first gold production at Cuiú Cuiú and imminent gold production at Amulsar. Earlier in the year, the company closed an additional 1.